Oswald Theodore Avery (1877-1955) was a distinguished Canadian-born
bacteriologist and research physician and one of the founders of
immunochemistry. He is best known for his discovery that
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) serves as genetic material.
The work of Avery and the members of his team at the Rockefeller
Institute, observes Nobel laureate Dr. Joshua Lederberg, was
"the historical platform of modern DNA research" and "betokened the molecular revolution
in genetics and biomedical science generally."

Because of the strong
connection between his and Avery's work,
Dr. Lederberg collected materials related to Avery's career
and donated them to the NLM. Additional materials were drawn from the
Oswald T. Avery Papers at
the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
Documents in the Oswald T. Avery Collection range from
1912 to 2005.
The collection contains awards, laboratory notes, research reports, published articles and books, correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, speeches,
photographic prints, and audiovisual materials.

As part of its Profiles in Science project, the
National Library of Medicine has collaborated with the
Tennessee State Library and Archives to digitize and make available over
the World Wide Web a selection of the
Oswald T. Avery Collection for use by educators and
researchers. This site provides access to the portions
of the Oswald T. Avery Collection of the Tennessee State Library and Archives and the National Library of Medicine that
have been selected for digitization.
Individuals interested in conducting research in the
Oswald T. Avery Collection are invited to contact
the Tennessee State Library and Archives and the National Library of Medicine.

This online Exhibit is designed to introduce you to the
various phases of Avery's
scientific career and professional life. It is divided
into sections that focus on
Avery's life and major
scientific contributions. We suggest that new visitors
begin with this exhibit, which includes a small
selection of documents and visuals, organized within
these sections. Each section begins with a "Background
Narrative," which leads to "Documents" and "Visuals."

Visitors may access additional materials through
Search
on the navigation bar. They may also view the materials
alphabetically or chronologically by choosing
Browse
on the navigation bar. Documents and visuals in these
lists are arranged by format and then either
alphabetically by title or chronologically.